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Naroditsky Tough as Nails Again, as Hackers Hunt Desert Rats to a Tie (with Game Analysis)

Posted: 6 years, 10 months ago

By IM Vignesh Panchanatham

In its last two regular matches, the San Jose Hackers suffered defeats by the closest of margins to the Australia Kangaroos and the Dallas Destiny. However, the Hackers responded with a tremendous performance on Super Saturday, topping the entirety of the Pacific and Atlantic Division with an astounding 21.5/28 game points.

The Hackers looked to continue the strong results against the Las Vegas Desert Rats this week. The Hackers boasted GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and GM Daniel Naroditsky on the top two boards, followed by the Hacker’s normal commentator, IM Konstantin “Kostya” Kavutskiy, on board 3, and local prodigy FM Christopher Yoo on board 4. The Desert Rats opted for a more balanced lineup with GM Melik Khachiyan, GM Zbigniew Pakleza, IM Andrey Ostrovskiy, and GM Jacek Stopa.

Round 1: 1.5-2.5 Desert Rats

Stopa vs. Mamedyarov (0-1)

Ostrovskiy vs. Naroditsky (1/2-1/2)

Kavutskiy vs. Pakleza (0-1)

Yoo vs. Khachiyan (0-1)

GM Mamedyarov ground down GM Stopa through a slightly better endgame to bring home the full point. GM Naroditsky conceded a draw to IM Ostrovskiy, and neither IM Kavustskiy nor FM Yoo were able to make anything against their strong GM opponents.

 

Round 2: 1.5-2.5 Desert Rats

Mamedyarov vs. Ostrovskiy (0-1)

Naroditsky vs. Stopa (1-0)

Khachiyan vs. Kavutskiy (1/2-1/2)

Pakleza vs. Yoo (1-0)

After a slower start than they would have liked, the Hackers looked to bounce back with a strong second round result. Unfortunately, GM Mamedyarov was upset by IM Ostrovskiy and FM Yoo was unable to make anything against GM Pakleza. GM Naroditsky, on the other hand, bounced back from his earlier draw to defeat GM Stopa. IM Kavutskiy also scored an upset, drawing against GM Khachiyan.

 

Round 3: 2.5-1.5 Hackers

Pakleza v. Mamedyarov (0-1)

Khachiyan v. Naroditsky (0-1)

Kavutskiy v. Stopa (0-1)

Yoo v. Ostrovskiy (0-1)

Now down by 2 points, the Hackers needed to shape up for this crucial round. GM Mamedyarov and GM Naroditsky played well, both defeating their GM opponents. However, neither IM Kavutskiy nor FM Yoo were able to score. In an odd twist, black won on every board of this round.

Round 4: 3-1 Hackers

Mamedyarov v. Khachiyan (1/2-1/2)

Naroditsky v. Pakleza (1-0)

Ostrovksiy v. Kavutskiy (1/2-1/2)

Stopa v. Yoo (0-1)

As in last week’s match, in the final round of the match, the Hackers needed 3.5 points to win, and 3 points to tie. GM Naroditsky won his game first, followed by draws by GM Mamedyarov and IM Kavutskiy, leaving the match in the hands of FM Yoo. Facing GM Stopa with the black pieces, FM Yoo had a challenge on his hands, but he pushed through with some amazing calculation. In the last round of the match, FM Yoo unleashed a tremendous clutch performance to capture the required point for the Hacker’s draw.  

Man of the Match: Daniel Naroditsky

For the second match in a row, GM Daniel Naroditsky is the Hacker’s Man of the Match. With 3.5/4, he provided almost half of the Hacker’s total score! En route to his amazing performance, he defeated all three of the Desert Rats’ top boards.

Final Score: 8-8 Tie

With an even score, the Hackers are sitting at fifth place in the Pacific Divison, only a half point out of qualifying for the playoffs. Next Wednesday Feb. 14, the Hackers will take on the division leaders, the Chengdu Pandas, at 6:30 PM. Follow the games live by tuning into http://www.Twitch.Tv/HelloKostya for commentary with BAC coach, IM Kostya Kavutskiy.